The present invention relates to a sheet package which is most suitably applied to a printer, and a printer in which sheets are set by the sheet package.
In a conventional color printer such as a color video printer or the like, a color image picked up by a video camera or the like is printed on a photographic paper (i.e., sheet) according to a thermal transfer system using a thermal head, a platen and an ink ribbon. This type of printer is known as a sublimation type color printer in which three to four color dyes such as cyan, magenta, yellow, black or the like are thermally transferred onto a sheet by sublimation, and which are then fused. The photographic paper is selected in accordance with the type of the color printer. A special sheet whose surface is low in friction coefficient and glossy so that it is very slippery and also which is weighty, is used as photographic paper used in any color printer. As in the case of a general FAX and a copying machine, 50 to 100 sheets of photographic paper are inserted into a sheet feed tray in a stacked state, and then set (loaded) into a color printer.
Photographic paper used in these types of color printers is packed every 100 sheets while the sheets are stacked in a vinyl bag. When a user sets the packed sheets into the color printer, the user opens the vinyl bag to take out the sheets of the photographic paper therein while the sheets are left stacked, and inserts the sheets into a sheet feed tray. However, since the photographic paper sheets are very slippery and weighty, the photographic paper sheets are simply dispersed or fall down onto the floor or the like if the holding balance of the photographic paper sheets by hands is even slightly broken during the setting work of the photographic paper sheets. If these sheets fall down onto the floor or the like, the image quality and the grade after printing is completed are remarkably deteriorated due to scratches on the surface of the photographic paper or attachment of dust or the like to the photographic paper. Accordingly, in the sheet setting work of the photographic paper, the photographic paper cannot be roughly handled unlike the sheet set work in a general FAX or copying machine, and the user must carry out the sheet set work of the photographic paper with the greatest possible care so that no scratch is made on the surface of the photographic paper or dust or the like is attached to the photographic paper. Therefore, the set work of the photographic paper imposes very large labor to users. Further, since it is necessary to select the type of the photographic paper in accordance with the type of the color printer, the user must visually confirm the type of the photographic paper in the set work of the photographic paper at any time, and this is very cumbersome.